Trump waives law requiring US to move embassy to Jerusalem

Donald Trump will not order the moving of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the near future, despite strong lobbying in recent days by senior Israeli officials.

A senior US official disclosed that Trump – like all his presidential predecessors – has signed the six-monthly presidential waiver to the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, reneging on a key campaign promise, citing his desire to maximise the chances of “negotiating a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians”.

But the official insisted that Trump still intends to move the embassy. “It’s a question of when, not if,” a US official said, adding that the president “doesn’t think the timing is right, right now”.

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“In timing such a move he will seek to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Trump’s move to renew the waiver came as he faced a Thursday deadline to renew or see the state department lose half its funding for its overseas facilities.

Presidents of both parties have renewed the waiver every six months for years.